Drug Trends Survey shows sharp rise in methamphetamine and cocaine use

The annual survey provides a snapshot of drug trends in Aotearoa New Zealand via an anonymous online survey of more than 8,800 people nationwide. The survey asks respondents about drug use patterns, market prices, views on drug policy, help services and barriers to seeking help and harm reduction initiatives.

The first release of the 2025 findings on methamphetamine, cocaine and general drug use show substantial decreases in the price of meth, which has fallen from $563/gram in 2017 to $334/gram in 2025. After adjusting for inflation, the price declines to $253/gram, which represents a 55 per cent drop since 2017.

Professor Chris Wilkins of the NZ Drugs Research Team at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University’s SHORE & Whariki Research Centre says the dramatic and persistent annual declines in meth prices have important implications for who can afford to start using meth and how much users can afford to purchase and use.

"Higher and more frequent use of meth is linked to greater harms, like dependency, psychosis and pressures on partners and family relationships," Professor Wilkins says.

"The role meth plays in a range of negative health and social outcomes is currently largely masked by stigma with users reluctant to disclose, and routine statistics that do not investigate causes for events such as admissions to Emergency Departments, partner and family assaults, community violence and work accidents and unsafe driving or the background issues, such as untreated trauma and mental illness."

The survey showed the biggest declines in meth prices were in the South Island, which Professor Wilkins says reflects traditionally higher prices driving market expansion followed by growing price competition.

"The exception was Gisborne/Hawkes Bay where gang competition and high supply may be fuelling price declines," he adds.

The NZDTS showed increasing frequency of meth use, while the number of people reporting use remained static, suggesting the increase in meth consumption via wastewater is the result of current users taking advantage of price declines to use more, rather than an increasing number of new users overall.

"The percentage of high frequency users in the survey, who use meth weekly or more often, has almost doubled increasing from 27 per cent in 2018 to 57 per cent in 2025. The percentage of surveyed users purchasing weekly or more often is increasing at a similar rate."

Professor Wilkins says users increasingly reported the reason they were using more meth being "it costs less".

He says the growing consumption and lower prices of meth is the result of a massive increase in meth supply to New Zealand, which traditionally came from Asia in the Golden Triangle, but now increasingly also includes from Mexican cartels via Canada/US and Pacific Islands.

"This is fuelling organised crime and corruption and serious negative health and social impacts in the Pacific, including growing injecting and rates of HIV, but also family harm and community stress.

Cocaine use increasing, alcohol and vaping down

The NZDTS showed cocaine supply and use continue to grow, with increasing availability and weekly use, although its use is dwarfed by meth, and is disproportionately in higher income groups.

Professor Wilkins says the survey provided one surprise with rising cocaine use throughout the country, although it remains particularly high in Auckland, Wellington, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Northland. The frequency of use of cocaine remains low compared to meth and cannabis, indicating it remains an emerging drug.

The NZDTS backed up wider drug trends identified in national health statistics and social research, including a decline in alcohol use since 2018/19, and a steady decline in smoking.

"We tracked a sharp rise in vaping from 2020 to 2024, but more recently this has declined, perhaps reflecting stricter regulation of retail vape outlets and greater social controls, particularly for youth."

He says the research team was also surprised to see declines in MDMA and LSD use, despite growing interest in these drugs for therapeutic use.

The NZDTS is conducted by the NZ Drugs Research Team at Massey’s SHORE & Whariki Research Centre. The Team consists of Professor Chris Wilkins, Associate Professor Marta Rychert, Dr Robin van der Sanden, Dr Jose Romeo and Thomas Graydon-Guy.

The 2025 NZDTS was completed by 8,883 New Zealanders and conducted between 9 May and 6 Oct 2025.

The research bulletins are available on the NZDTS website.